Trying To Make Sense Of The Unbelievable Penn State Season That No One Saw Coming

PASADENA, Calif. – They were supposed to win six-to-eight games, maybe nine if we were being extremely optimistic. But what Penn State actually did in 2016 was impossible to predict.

Before the season, a group of friends and I made predictions among ourselves about how this team would do. We weren’t exactly screaming “CHAMPIONSHIP.” Consider that coming into the year, the Nittany Lions were coming off of back-to-back 7-6 seasons, had to replace their quarterback with a guy who was recruited as either a quarterback or a safety, and needed to find three defensive linemen to replace three players who were selected in the NFL Draft.

In total, there were 24 of us. Five said 6-6, eight said 7-5, seven said 8-4, four said 9-3. The most optimistic folks who made predictions thought this would be a nine-win team, which was a common sentiment among Penn State fans.

At best, most thought this team could come in third in a division with two of the six best teams in the country. It was too young to compete, probably, but there was just enough talent to maybe make things interesting in a big game. The year to make a run at the conference title was 2017. The year to take a small step forward was 2016.

And yet, on Jan. 2 there some of us were, in the stands at the fabled Rose Bowl, watching the Nittany Lions play the most exciting and entertaining game of bowl season. This was not supposed to happen. I’m still not completely sure how it did.

Still the same program that protected a child molester and is now considering re-erecting a statue of the man who let it happen. Still more than enough shame the school should be feeling about the program instead of pride. It’s NOT “in the past” as you state for all the victims, or for the coaches that tried to blow the whistle and were fired and blacklisted. This article disgusts me.

“Considering how everyone involved in the Sandusky scandal was gone when they were implemented, I considered them an overreach by an oftentimes criticized organization that wanted to get some good PR. You may disagree. That’s fine, it’s not something worth getting riled up over because it’s in the past,”

So you just wanted everyone to know that you thought the punishment was unfair, and of you disagree keep it to ourselves because you went to a bowl game. Everyone involved with the program was gone when the sanctions hit except the 110,000 people in the personality cult every Saturday. The NCAA couldn’t figure out how to make a whole town act like humans with souls. At least you didn’t actually use “redemption” somewhere in your article.

Please…They gave up an unbelievable 140 points in their 3 losses! Other than a lucky blocked punt, they were completely outplayed by OSU. 1 lucky win put them in the Rose Bowl…what a joke. Where were the quality wins…Kent St., Rutgers, and Temple?! Typical arrogant Creepy Valley fans.

The Department of Education also fined your school 2.4 million this fall for not reporting crimes properly (many involving athletes) and vindicated the Freeh Report. Paternity would do anything to protect his football program, including covering up the most heinous of crimes.